Carbttration



W. H. WINSLOW.

CARBURATION. PPLlcATloM FILED fea. 12. 19er.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

THB coLUMllA PMNOGIIAPM co1, WAsmNn'Tonl, D. l:

W. H. WINSLOW.

CARBURATION.

APPLlcATlou flu-:a ria. 12. 1911.

1 ,3 1 2,660 n Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. WINSLOW, OF RIVER FOREST, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0CHARLES A. BROWN, OF HINSDALE, ILLINOIS.

CARBURATION.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

Application filed February 12, 1917. Serial No. 147,990.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. WINS- Low, acitizen of the United States, residing at River Forest, in the county ofCook Iand State of Illinois, have inventeda certain new and usefulImprovement in Carburation, of which the following is a full, clear,concise1 and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved method of and means for Carburation.

In preparing the proper fuel charge for internal combustion engines andthe ilike, it is desirable to produce as intimate a mixture as possibleof fuel and air to secure high thermal efficiency and clean combustion.

The earliest type of internal combustion engines were operated upon amixture of air and fuel gas. Carburation was easy because of the naturaltendency for the gases lo mix because of their high fluidity, smallinertia and because of the tendency for diffusion.

The desirability of employing liquid or solid fuel was at oncerecognized because of the requirement for mobility.

Perhaps the first attempt at the use of liquid fuel Was made byoarbureting the air by drawing the same through a tube submerged in atank of liquid fuel. For obvious reasons this was not practical. Themore volatile constituents were first evaporated and the remainder wouldfinally be a residue of high boiling point which was dif ficult tovaporize. It was soon proposed to employ the mixing valve. This is anearly form of carburetor in which the intake of the engine is closed ofiby a valve body. This valve body when opened by suction uncovers a portor jet from Which the fuel issues under a certain head and is injectedinto the current of air. y

This form of device was fairly satisfac tory for fuel that Was easilyvaporized. It is highly wasteful of fuel and can make no compensationfor the speed of the engine.

The simple jet carbureter Was soon proposed. This provided a jet ornozzle in the intake passage of the engine, fuel being maintained atsubstantially the top of the j et by a fioat controlled or other levelmaint-ain' ing device. This device was fairly successful for easilyvaporizable fuel though it could make no compensation for engine speed.

The final form in which the carbureter for easily vaporized fuelsappears is the constant level jet with compensating means for enginespeed and for starting condition.

But at this stage of the development of the art the necessity arises forusing fuel of a muc-h lower degree of vaporizability.

It was resognized that lovv grades of fuel are so inert to the action ofa simple current of air that Carburation is substantially impossible bysuch means. There have recently been develo-ped devices for causing theincoming air to act more intimately upon the fuel as by what is termedair-bled jets and as by employing a plurality of jets and the like.

It alpears that this type of fuel is not only di cult tovaporize oratomize but also it is diflicult to get a proper mixture such as' isnecessary for clean and efficient combustion.

My invention is a departure from the above line of development. Myinvention aims to provide an improved method of preparing liquid fuelfor carburation; an improved method of employing the prepared fuel incarbureting the air of the charge; and an improved method ofcompensating the mixture for starting and for varying engine speed.

A further object distinct from the above aims is the provision of novelmeans for carrying out each of the above method-s.

According to my invention as set out in the first object above, the fuelis prepared for Carburation by mechanically Whipping or beating the samemuch 1n the Way that eggs are Whipped or beaten to form a larger bulk orbody of an air emulsion of much lower density, greater fluidity andcapable of being readily carried into mixture by a current of air.

My invention further teaches according to the second object above anadvantageous manner of utilizing liquid fuel for carburation byinjecting the air in fine streams into the liquid fuel, the fuel beingmechanically driven into the fuel charge so that no residue is left.More particularly my invention provides in this aspect a manner of usingthe fuel prepared as above. This is accomplished by releasing airthroughout the extent of emulsion, which air under the suction of theengine expands and further subdivides the fuel to sa degree of nenessnot heretofore approached. lnslrad of in jecting fuel into the air, Ifirst subdivide the 'fuel and inject the air into it.

'llu` third object above is attained according to my invention hy addinga centrifugal impulse to the suction impulse which moved the air, thislceiitril'ugal impulse being effettive in greater degree at high enginespeed.

For starting purposes, fuel is substituted for a part of the air whichis supplied to the engine.

Having disclosed in eneral terms the nature of my invention, in detailwith the aid of the accompanying drawings7 one embodiment of myinvention to make clear to those Skilled in the art a manner orpractising the same.

Figure 1 is a lon itudinal vertiral section of a device embo ying myinvention;

Fig. Q is a transverse section on the line 2N2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a general elevational View indi-- eating the manner ofapplying my invention to an internal Combustion engine.

As shown in the drawings, my invention comprises a stationary housing ormixing barrel 1 and a rotor element 2 mounted to rotate in said mixingbarrel, and a manifold housing 3.

The central rotating member or rotor 2 comprises a tubular member 4provided with a disk or fiange 5 at its innermost end and being mountedfor rotation upon the roller bearings 6 and 7 which are mounted Withinthe hub 8 forming an extension of the main barrel or housing 1.

The rotor 2 is provided with. a plurality of short tubes 9 of smalldiameter which are mounted in apertures in the Walls of the rotor l asby means of screw threads, these tubes being open from end to end andcommunicating at their inner end vvith the 1nterior of the tube 4 anddischarging at their outer ends into the barrel 1. In constructing acarbureter of this type I prefer to employ a suitable number of tubes ofSmall diaineter Whose aggregate area of 'opening will be substantiallyequal to or greater than the area of opening of the tube For example: Inconstructing the tube 4.- of g inchdiameter inside, I have found thatsix rows of 16 tubes each provide, when each of the air tubes 1s le inchdiameter opening, a total aggregate area approximately equal to thea'rea of the intake tube. It is obvious that the number of 'tubes ineaeh row and the arrangement of the rows may be varied Without departingfrom the spirit of my invention.

In four of the tubes of each row, preferably in quartered relation, Ihave added transverse openings about half Way down the length of thetubez these openingsbeing drilled at right angles to the run of' e tubeto introduce a small amount of air at 'the intermediate poiitin'ofthebariel 1 in the `mid shall novi1 describe Zone of the` mixing space.In the Construction indicated, for a ineh diameter tube having aninternal diameter of I inchl l ferm the transverse holes 1f) ol llu`size of a No. (50 drill. Radially projecting pins 11 are inonnled uponthe inside olf the barrel 1, these pins being ol' a relatively smalldiaine ter, as for example, ['6- inch.y and lying in rows between theradial tubes S). The ronibined action of the statioi'iary pins and thecentrifugal mixing tubes 9 is to eh'op up or whip the contents of thebarrel 1 in a very thorough manner. At the outer end of the barrel 1 Ihave provided a centrifugal spraying 'or spreading disk 12 which isprovided With a curved flange and a plurality of blades 13 lyingradially to the flange, this spreading or spraying disk being positionedin front of the fuel jet 14 which opens into the bottoni of the barrel 1as indicated in Fig. 1. The upper end ol' the jet 11 is di rerted towarda spraying disk in such a man ner that the fuel discharged from thenow/.le will strike the spreading disk and will then be spread orsprayed into the space between the barrel 1 and the rotating tube 4. The spraying disk 1:2 is provided With a hub 15 which is mounted upon areduced part of the tube 4 and rests against a shoulder 16. TheJ lowerrace 17 of the roller bearing 6 is mounted against the hub 15 upon thereduced fpart of the tube 4. Between the race 17 of the roller bearing 6and the race 18 of the roller bearing 7, I have provided a spacing ring19 which carries a felt washer or ring 20. These parts are held in placeby a lock nut 21 which is threaded upon the reduced part of the tube 4.A driving Wheel 22 is also mounted upon the tube 4 and is held in placeby a second lock nut 23. The

Wheel 22 may be in the form of a driving pulley or in the form of a gearfor imparting suitable motion to the rotor 2. The rotor may be driven bya solid shaft from the opposite end or by any other means founddesirable Whether driven by the engine or a separate motor.

The open end of the rotating tube 4 is connected as by means of the tube24 to a ho-t air box heated by the exhaust manifold of the engine.

The barrel 1 and the manifold easing 3 are provided With eoperatingflanges 25 and 26 which are fastened together by suit able screws Q7.The fiange 25 is formed upon the outer edge of the bell shaped por'-tion 28 which Connects by means of a reduced portion 29 to the verticaltube 30. This tube is connected by a suitable flange 31 to the intakepipe or manifold 32 of the engine. The usual throttle 33 and means tocontrol the same 34 is provided for governing the amount o'f the fuelcharge supplied to the engine. The easing 3 is pro-vided with ,auxiliaryair inlet 35 that is controlled 'by a' suitable valve 36, said valvebeing typical of any manually or automatically controlled valve whichmay be found desirable.

The jet 14 is connected by a pipe 37 to the float chamber 38 which iskept constantly supplied with liquid fuel.

For the purposes of providing a rich mixture at starting, a tube 38 isintroduced into the rotating tube 4, the tube 38 having dischargeopenings 39 for discharging a quantity of liquid into the end of thetube 4 ad jacent the open ends of the centrifugal tubes 9. The tube 38is connected to the usual priming means which may be in the form of apump, an auxiliary Well or the like. c

As shown in Fig. 3, the gear 22 may be driven by a gear 41 connected bymeans of a suitable shaft 42 to a gear 43 lying within the casin 44 andmeshing with the pump or cam sha t gear. The shaft 42 may be directlyconnected to the rotor 2 if so desired.

The operation of the device illustrated is as follows:

The rotor element 2 is connected directly as by gears or a belt to themoving parts of the engine so that the speed of the rotor corresponds tothe speed of the engine. When the en ine is started, a small quantity ofliquid nel is discharged to the priming tube 38 into the tube 4. Thisliquid fuel finds its way through the tubes 9 into lthe shell or barrell and thus is carried along with the air into the intake manifold andinto the cylinders of the engine. It is to be noted that the primincharge thus introduced takes the place o some of the air and tends toprodu-ce a rich mixture such as is necessary on starting. At the sametime that the engine is started, the suction of the engine causes adischarge of liquid fuel from the nozzle 14 against the spreading or,spraying disk 12 and this fuel is whipped or beaten by the rotating andstationary part into a ne emulsion which is easily carried' away by theair that comes into the centrifugal tubes 9.

During operation of the device, the fuel which enters by Way of thenozzle 14 is thrown into the space in which the centrifugal tubes 9 aremoving, where, as above explained, the liquid is very violently agitatedand at the same time air is introduced at a number of points in finejets which air, under the influence of suction, easily carries away thisintimate mixture of fuel and air to supply the necessary charge to theengine.

For higher speeds of the engine and correspondingly higher speeds o-frotation of the rotor 2, an additional force is added to the air,namely, the centrifugal or throwing force of the tubes 9, these tubesacting as minute centrifugal pumps tending to move a greater quantity ofair into the intake manifold than would be drawn in by the mere suctionimpulse. The proportioning of the parts ma be such as to compensate forany particu ar type or size of engine. This centrifugal actionautomatically thins out the mixture as the speed of the engine isincreased.

Independently of the automatic compensation of the mixture, additionalair may enter through the pipe 35A to constitute an auxiliary airsupply, if so desired. The three basic conceptions in the operation of adevice are apparent from the above. First, Whipping, beating or choppingthe liquid into an air emulsion. Second, introducing the air in a finelydivided space into an agitated mass of liquid, and third, the autolnaticcompensation for engine speeds by giving the air a centrifugal impulsein addition to the suction impulse.

The importance of Whipping or finely sub-dividing the liquid fuel beforethe air is injected is readily apparent from the fact that the arca of agiven quantity is thereby greatly increased and the distance of anyparticular particle of fuel from the incoming air is thereby vastlydiminished.

Heating the incoming air is found to be highly advantageous,particularly because of the intimate mixture of the air and fuel. Theintroduction of heated air in an air emulsion of liquid fuel ispeculiarly eiica cious for the heavier grades of oils.

Itl is apparent that the invention may be embodied in other forms, andthat the proportions may be varied to suit the condition.

What I claim is:

1. The process of preparing a charge of air and liquid fuel for rapidcombustion which consists in whipping the liquid fuel by mechanicalimpulses and simultaneously subjecting the whipped product to numerousindividual jets of air within the whipped product.

2. The process of preparing a charge of air and liquid fuel for aninternal combustion engine or the like which consists in Whipping theliquid fuel by mechanical impulses and then causing numerous fine jetsof air to discharge in the mass of Whipped fuel. 3. The method ofmixingr air and fuel which consists in mechanically whipping a smallquantity of fuel and simultaneously injecting into the mixture aplurality of fine jet streams of air under pressure.

4. The method of preparing a proper mixture of air and fuel for higherengine speeds which consists in moving air in a plurality of fine jetsinto intimate contact with the fuel by suction and simultaneouslyexerting a force upon the air by centrifugal action caused by theengine.

5. The method of mixing air and fuel,

which consists in mechanically agitatiiug and comminutiug u relativelysmall quantity of fuel and simultaneously introducing air in numerousline jets throughout the extent of the ccmmrinifited fuel.

6. In combination a casing having a discharge outlet, said casingcomprising a barrel por-tion, a rotor in said barrel portion, a jctdelivering liquid fuel into said barrel portion upon a portion of saidrotor and means on the rotor for mechanically injecting air through saidrotor between said jet and the engine manifold.

7. In a carbureter, a barrel or casing, a rotor in said barrel orcasing, said rotor comprising a plurality of small diameter tubes and apassage communicating with the atmosphere and said small tubes, saidpassage being formed in said rotor.

8. In combination a barrel, a rotor in said barrel. said rotorcomprising a tube having its inner end closed, said tube communir-atingwith the atuiospl'iere and hav ing a plurality of short tubes of smalldiameter communicating With the interior of said tube and the interiorof the barrel, means for projecting liquid fuel into contact with therotor and means for driving the rotor.

9. In combination a closed casing adapted to be connected to the intakemanifold on an engine, a tube having its inner end closed, said tubeprojecting into said cas ing and being rotatably mounted with respect tosaid casing, a plurality of tubes of small diameter projecting from theWalls of said closed end tube, and a plurality of pins mounted upon theinterior of said arrel.

10. In combination, an internal combustion engine, and a carbureter forsaid engine, said carbureter comprising a casing, a rotatable tube insaid casing, means mounted on said tube for violently agitating theliquid fuel supplied to said carbureter. means for supplying liquid fueland projecting the same into contact with the rotor and means connectingVsaid rotatable tube with the shaft of the engine.

11. In combination, a main driving shaft, a carbureter comprising ahousing, a rotor in said housing, means for supplying liquid fuel tosaid housing, means on said rotor for mechanically agitating the fuel insaid housing and means connecting said rotor with the main shaft, saidrotor comprlsm .a spreading disk against which the fue 1s sprayed and anair impelling means for forcing air into intimate mixture with theagitated liquid fuel.

12. In combination, a carbureter housing adapted to be connected to theintake manifold of an engine, a rotating tube projecting intc saidhousing, means for supplying liquid fuel to said housing, said rotatingtube having hollow projecting a-rms for agiiitating the liquid fuel andfor passing wir through said agitated fuel.

13. In a device of the class described, means for supplying liquid fuel,mechanically impcllcd means for puilveriuing said liquid fu el and meansconnected to said second means for injecting numerous fine streams ofair in the mass of pulverized fuel.

14. In a carburetcr, a barrel or housing having inwardly projectingmeans, a central tube adapted to be rotated, said tube having shorttubes -of smaller diameter projecting in rows therefrom, said rows beingadapted to pass between said projections on4 the barrel, said tubes ofsmall diameter commun-icating With the interi-or of said central tube,and means for rotating said central tube.

15. In combination, a barrel having projections upon the interiorsurface thereof, a central tube adapted to bc rotated With respect tosaid barrel, said central tube having its inner end closed, an outletfor said bar` rel adjacent said closed end, and a flange secured to theclosed end of said central tube, a plurality of projecting members uponsaid rotating tube and means for supplying liq- -uid fuel to said barrelat a point remote from said flange.

16. In combination, a barrel having an outlet adapted to be connected to`an engine manifold, said barrel -having a plurality of inwardlyextending projections, a central tube rotatably mounted adjacent saidbarrel, a plurality of short tubes projecting from said central tube, aflange closing the inner end of said central tube, a spreadm disk onsaid central tube and a fuel jet a apted to discharge liquid againstsaid spreading disk.

17. In combination, a casing having an inlet and an outlet, a rotor inthe casing, said rotor being adapted to be positively driven, said rotorAhaving a disk with upturned ed es adapted to throw the liquid fueloutwardgby centrifugal action, separate air mpelling 110 means connectedto and axially displaced from the disk for introducing air into thecasinrA and forcing air into contact with the liqui fuel and a fuelinlet for projecting the fue] against said disk.

18. In combination, a casing having inlet and outlet, a rotor in thecasi-Ang, a shaft for ositively driving said'rotor, said rotor havlng adisk adapted to throw the liquid fuel outward by centrifugal action,centrifu al 120 air impelling means independent of the disk and axial-lydisplaced from the disk fcr forcing` air into the casing and intointimate contact with the liquid fuel and a fluid fuel inlletkforprojecting liquid fuel against said 125 19. In a carburcter for internalcombustion engines and the like, a barrel, a fuel jet in the barrel,means adapted to be mechanically driven by the engine to Whip or pul-130 verize the fuel issuing from the jet, and means connected to saidfirst means for injecting air under pressure in numerous fine streamsinto the mass of pulverized fuel.

20. In a carbureter, a barrel, a suctioncontrolled fuel jet in thebarrel, means adapted to be mechanically driven to Whip or pulverize thefuel issuin from the jet, and means connected to sald first means forintroducing air under pressure and injecting the same into the mass ofpulverized fuel.

21. The method of mixin air and fuel which consists in mechanica ypulverizing a small quantity of liquid fuel and simulta- Copiel of thispatent may 'be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the neouslyinjecting in accordance with the speed of the engine a plurality of finestreams of air under pressure. into the mass of pul- Verized fuel.

22. The method of coin ensatin the mixture produced by a carbu eter of te suction type for higher engine speeds, which consists in mechanicallyforcing air into the mixture in accordance with the speed of the engine.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe myTname this 8th day ofFebruary, A. D. 191

WILLIAM I-I. WINSLOW.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

